Eliot Schrefer’s “Threatened” is a sequel of sorts to his excellent novel “Endangered,” in which an African coup threatens a sanctuary for bonobos, along with its caretakers.

This time, we follow Luc, an orphaned Gabon street boy, who is naturally suspicious of the creatures he calls “mock men,” what an Arab researcher calls chimpanzees. The Arab travels with a vervet, a monkey Luc usually sees gutted and hung up for sale in the bushmeat market.

This man tells Luc to call him Prof, for “professor,” and hires him to help lug his equipment to the optimistically-named Beverly Hills hotel in Franceville. When Luc steals Prof’s briefcase, the man comes after him. But instead of punishing Luc, Prof buys his freedom from Monsieur Tatagani. He wants Luc to help him with his research in the bush, but even with the promise of escaping his vicious master Tatagani, Luc’s not sure:

“In Gabon, we called the places men live the Outside and the jungle the Inside. Humans weren’t supposed to go Inside,” Luc says. But he won’t abandon Prof, who’s paid Luc’s debt, bought him shoes and who seems to have more money than Luc thought existed.

In Eliot Schrefer’s novel “Endangered,” a girl tries to save herself and a bonobo chimpanzee when a wildlife sanctuary is taken over by military terrorists.

Eliot Schrefer‘s extraordinary young-adult novel “Endangered” is as brilliant as it is disturbing. Sophie goes to Kinshasa in Africa to visit her mother, who runs a sanctuary for bonobo chimpanzees.

Immediately, Sophie falls into a trap, buying a baby bonobo from an illegal trafficker on the street. Her mother has warned her against this — it only encourages traffickers to kill mother bonobos so they can snatch the babies and sell them — and the consequences of Sophie’s impulsiveness are swift and horrific.

But almost immediately, the trafficker incident is diminished as revolutionaries take over Kinshasa and surrounding territory, including the sanctuary and its workers. The soldiers are quick and lethal with their weapons. Sophie turns down a chance at a rescue that would mean certain death for Otto, the baby bonobo from the trafficker.

Can they elude the soldiers and find refuge for both Sophie and Otto? The writing is as elegant as it is fast-paced. This would be a brilliant holiday gift for young readers who also are aspiring human- and animal-rights activists.

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